I was asked to participate in the Fantasy Baseball Trade Market “Premier League” some months back by one of the real good guys in fantasy baseball, Bob Sikon (Bob in Cleveland). I jumped at the opportunity to compete against some of the best fantasy baseball writers on the web. Here is a list of the participants:
 

1. Jason Sarney, FantasyPhenoms.com
2. Geoffrey Stein, MockDraftCentral.com
3. Tim Dickens, RotoAuthority.com
4. Evan Dickens, FantasyBallSearch.com

5. Rob Reed, PlayerTrack.com

6. Tim McLeod, RotoRob.com
7. Tony Bartlett, FantasyBaseballUK.com

8. Kelly Pfleiger, FantasyGameDay.net

9. Chris Mulligan, Behind The Plate/FantasyPros911.com
10. Joe Lano, FantasyPros911.com
11. Bob Sikon, FantasyBaseballTrademarket.com
12. Rob Monacelli, BetweenGames.net

　

Our draft was held last Sunday and I had to hurry home from my live draft to get there in time. After already consuming a few beverages, I felt that I had my best draft yet. I had the ninth overall pick in this league of baseball vets. Here is my roster for the league.
 

Rounds 1-3: I raised a few eyebrows by taking Utley with the ninth pick in round one but he looks to be perfectly healthy and this pick will help to carry my team. Beltran is reliable and good power/speed combo. I love that Carl Crawford fell to me here. Expect a huge bounce back from him this year. I now have solid SB numbers already with my first three picks.
 

Rounds 4-5: I stayed a little from my norm by taking two elite pitchers. Sabathia was the top player on my list at this point and the only other player I considered with this pick was Manny Ramirez. Webb ends up being a steal considering he was the last of the top tier pitchers to be taken. Haren, Hamels, Halladay, and Peavy all were selected before him and I couldn’t believe the break that I had been handed. I couldn’t pass it up.
 

Rounds 6-9: I like Chipper for his high BA and potential if healthy. Hardy has been my favorite SS the last couple of years, 25 HR/90 RBI potential. I think Damon is a nice value pick this year. He can score 100 R and steal 30 bases while adding 15 HR. I waited to get my 1B late with Delgado and I think he is the key to my team. If he can come close to his numbers from last year, I should be sitting pretty.
 

Rounds 10-12: I think Cain is also a good value pick this year with a much improved Giants offense backing him up- Billingsley-like numbers three rounds later. Cordero was the best of the closers left and they were going quickly. I felt that if I didn’t get one here that I could be left with some bums. I may have taken Danks a round or two early but I love his stuff. He could be a 15 game winner with 150+ K this year.
 

Rounds 13-14: Cantu is one of my favorite players and a great backup for the older Chipper and Delgado. I think he can have an even better season than last year. I was thinking a little out of the box with the Wieters pick. I saw tremendous talent in the 14^th round and I figured that I can get a couple of solid catchers late and wait until June for the possible R.O.Y..
 

Rounds 15-19: I love Hanrahan’s potential. He could be the Joakim Soria of ‘09. Lind is a great talent and I like him as my number four OF. A high BA and 20 HR/85 RBI is a reasonable expectation. I love Matsui as a MI- a great BA with 25-30 SB and a little pop as well. I was surprised to see Floyd hanging around this late. He’s having a great spring and a good value pick this late. Gomez is already a 30+ steal guy with much potential to improve.
 

Rounds 20-23: I made a trade during the draft. One of the participants was auto-drafted Jorge Posada and wanted to trade him so I gave him my round 20 pick for Posada in which I drafted Ankiel for him. If Posada can stay healthy then his is a steal. All I need is for him to get me to at least June when Wieters comes up. I think he will be my no. 2 catcher the rest of the way. Kawakami is the real deal and I think he can get me 13 wins and 130 K with an ERA in the low-mid threes. I took Salty on upside alone. I’m hoping he can carry the spot until I get Wieters and hopefully he can be productive enough to be tradable. I really like Kubel this year. He can easily be a 25 HR/85 RBI player this year which is a nice find in round 23.
 

Rounds 24-27: I took Perez late looking for a few saves and he gets sent down the next day. I have replaced him with Armando Galarraga who I’ve mentioned before can be a sleeper this year. All that I want from Wellemeyer is to repeat what he did last year and I think he will come close. Uehara could be a nice pick here. I think he can produce similar numbers to Kawakami with a slightly higher ERA and WHIP. Cody Ross is a guy that a lot of people sleep on. I like him as my backup OF and his 20 HR in the last round.
 

Overall, I really like my team. I actually used the basis of this draft to draft an even better team the next day for a keeper league. I feel that I have good balance. I like the speed I have with Utley, Beltran, Crawford, Damon, Matsui, and Gomez. It should be a good BA team as well with slightly above average HR. The only offensive category that I may be lacking is RBI.
 

The pitching looks solid as well. I pride myself on being able to maintain low ERA and WHIP year after year. My WHIP may be a little higher than normal but strikeouts should be there all year. I wish that I would have been able to get another closer but they were going fast and furiously. I decided to take advantage of the talent that was slipping due to the run on closers. Plus, there will be many new closers throughout the season.

I’m very much looking for to representing BTP and Fantasy Pros 911 in what should be a very competitive and prestigious league. Thanks to Bob Sikon of  www.fantasybaseballtrademarket.com for putting this league together. If you haven’t checked out his site yet, be sure to do so. I’ll keep you all posted on the standings throughout the year.

I'd love to hear some comments and opinions of this team.  Check out the Trade Market site and tell me who you think the favorite is!